Best & Worst Cities for Basketball Fans

Adam McCann, Financial Writer • May 22, 2019

458

SHARES

Adam McCann, Financial WriterMay 22, 2019

Americans love basketball. How much? Let’s put it this way: It has a fanbase that exceeds the population of Spain. And on the business side of things, it’s growing. Today, the average NBA franchise is worth $1.9 billion (an increase of 13% from 2018) and draws additional revenues from TV partnerships, merchandise sales and, as of 2017, advertising on NBA team uniforms.

So it’s safe to say — considering the tens of millions of people who regularly watch basketball and the billions of dollars we shell out in its name — that we’re a little more than crazed about the sport.

But what defines a good basketball city? Top-performing teams, revenues and traditions are all part of the equation, of course, but there’s simply no game without the fans. The city itself should encourage attendance and engagement, too. That means, for instance, making stadiums accessible or keeping ticket-costs affordable — at least for a time.

With basketball fans in mind, WalletHub crunched the numbers to find the best spots in America to love on your favorite sport. We compared more than 290 of the largest cities based on 21 key metrics, ranging from the performance level of each city’s NBA and NCAA Division 1 basketball teams to ticket prices to stadium accessibility. Read on to find the full list of winners, a ranking by city size, commentary from a panel of experts and an explanation of how we ranked the cities.

Ask the Experts

Showing team spirit can get pretty expensive. For insight on enjoying hoops on a budget and other basketball-related matters, we asked a panel of experts to share their thoughts on the following key questions:

Do you think the NBA or the NFL has a better chance of successfully adding a European franchise?

What, in your mind, makes a good basketball fan?

What do you think is the best city for basketball fans and why?

Do you have any tips for how basketball fans can enjoy the sport without breaking the bank?

Methodology

To determine the best and worst cities for professional- and college-basketball fans, WalletHub compared 291 of the most populated cities across two divisional categories, “NBA” and “NCAA.”

We evaluated those categories using 21 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for basketball fandom.

We then determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

For our sample, we chose cities with at least one college basketball or NBA team. We also ranked the cities based on population size, using the following groupings:

Large Cities: More than 300,000 people

Midsize Cities: 100,000 to 300,000 people

Small Cities: Fewer than 100,000 people

NBA – Total Points = 70

Number of NBA Team(s): Full Weight (~8.24 Points)

Performance Level of NBA Team(s): Full Weight (~8.24 Points)Note: This metric was calculated by dividing “Number of Wins” by “Total Games Played” and using the past three seasons’ averages.

NCAA Basketball – Total Points = 30

Number of College Basketball (Division 1) Team(s): Full Weight (~4.29 Points)

Performance Level of College Basketball (Division 1) Team(s): Full Weight (~4.29 Points)Note: This metric was calculated by dividing “Number of Wins” by “Total Games Played” and using the past three seasons’ averages.

Number of College Basketball (Division 1) Championship Wins: Full Weight (~4.29 Points)

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Team Marketing Report, ESPN, NBA, NCAA.org, Forbes, Ranker.com, Sports Reference and each team’s website.

Image: Oleksii Sidorov / Shutterstock.com

Was this article helpful?

Awesome! Thanks for your feedback.

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry!Failed to send the feedback. Please try again later.

Disclaimer: Editorial and user-generated content is not provided or commissioned by financial institutions. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and have not been approved or otherwise endorsed by any financial institution, including those that are WalletHub advertising partners. Our content is intended for informational purposes only, and we encourage everyone to respect our content guidelines. Please keep in mind that it is not a financial institution’s responsibility to ensure all posts and questions are answered.

Ad Disclosure: Certain offers that appear on this site originate from paying advertisers, and this will be noted on an offer’s details page using the designation "Sponsored", where applicable. Advertising may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). At WalletHub we try to present a wide array of offers, but our offers do not represent all financial services companies or products.

Community Discussion

We evaluated those categories using 21 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for basketball fandom.